12 Turkish Troops Killed in Rebel Ambush
Pastor Dale Morgan
12 Turkish Troops Killed in Rebel Ambush*
Sunday October 21, 2007 11:16 PM
By VOLKAN SARISAKAL
Associated Press Writer
SIRNAK, Turkey (AP) - Kurdish rebels ambushed a Turkish military convoy
on Sunday less than three miles from the Iraqi border, killing 12
soldiers in the face of growing threats by Turkey to cross the rugged
frontier and root out the guerrillas.
Turkey shelled the border region in response to the attack, and Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani - himself a Kurd - ordered the rebels to lay
down their arms or leave Iraq. Turkey dismissed his call, saying the
time had come for action.
Despite the harsher rhetoric, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday
it appears Turkey's military is not on the verge of invading Iraq's most
stable region in pursuit of the rebels - an incursion strongly opposed
by the United States and Iraq.
Gates told reporters that in a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister
Vecdi Gonul, he advised against a major cross-border incursion despite
the continuing provocations.
``I'm heartened that he seems to be implying a reluctance on their part
to act unilaterally, and I think that's a good thing,'' Gates said. ``I
didn't have the impression that anything was imminent.''
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice in a phone conversation Sunday night that Turkey
expected ``speedy steps from U.S.'' in cracking down on Kurdish rebels,
and that Rice expressed sympathy and asked ``for a few days'' from him.
Turkey's Parliament last week authorized the government to deploy troops
across the border, and the military confirmed that soldiers were chasing
the rebels and pounding 63 suspected positions with artillery. Deputy
Prime Minister Cemil Cicek would not say however, whether some of those
positions were on Iraqi soil.
``Whatever is necessary in this struggle is being done and will be
done,'' Cicek said.
The troops, backed by helicopter gunships, killed 32 rebels on Sunday,
Cicek said.
The rebel group, Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, claimed later that its
guerrillas had also captured a ``number'' of Turkish soldiers. Eight
soldiers were missing according, to private NTV television.
Cicek refused comment on the report, saying ``the clashes are still
under way.''
``Every kind of attack will be avenged many times over,'' Cicek said.
The soldiers died when an estimated 200 guerrillas - the largest single
group that attacked a Turkish unit in years - reportedly attacked an
infantry company near the village of Daglica, less than three miles from
the border.
The attack occurred just after midnight during a military offensive
against rebels in Hakkari province, where the borders of Turkey, Iraq
and Iran meet. Hakkari is east of Sirnak province, another area of
conflict between the PKK and the Turkish military.
According to CNN-Turk, the rebels blew up a bridge as a 12-vehicle
military convoy was crossing. In a separate attack on Sunday, 17 people
were injured when a bomb exploded as a minibus - part of a wedding
convoy - passed nearby, the local governor's office said.
Iraq reported Turkish shelling toward Kurdish villages in the border
area in northern Iraq but no casualties were reported in the artillery
bombardment.
``Our anger, our hatred is great,'' Erdogan said.
Sunday's attack raised the death toll of soldiers in PKK attacks in the
past two weeks to around 30.
``A cross-border offensive must certainly be carried out and their blood
should not be left on the ground,'' said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the
Nationalist Action Party.
Previous offensives by Turkey in Iraq have blunted rebel strength but
failed to eradicate the group.
The remarks by Talabani, the Iraqi president, were the strongest
indication to date of his frustration with the rebels and his wish to
distance himself, as well as Iraq's Kurds, from them.
``If they insist on the continuation of fighting, they should leave
Kurdistan, Iraq and not create problems here. And they should return to
their countries and do there whatever they want,'' Talabani said.
Later Sunday, Talabani told Turkey's private Kanal D television that the
PKK could announce a cease-fire on Monday. Turkey has rejected several
unilateral rebel cease-fires in the past.
The Turkish government said it was time for action against the PKK.
``Statements do not satisfy us. There has been nothing left to say; we
are expecting concrete steps from them,'' Cicek said.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, meanwhile, arrived unexpectedly
in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia - his third visit to an Arab country since
parliament passed the motion - in an apparent effort to muster Arab
support for any Turkish offensive.
The attacks came as Turks on Sunday voted in favor of electing future
presidents by popular rather than parliamentary vote in a referendum.
Turkey's leaders cut short trips to their hometowns where they cast
their votes to return to the capital, Ankara.
Abdul-Rahman al-Chadrchi, a PKK spokesman in northern Iraq, denied there
were any rebel casualties but said the rebels ``killed and injured a
number of Turkish soldiers and captured another number.''
Journalists heading to the area were turned away at a military
checkpoint. Much of the rural area along the border has already been
declared off-limits by the Turkish military.
About 15 Turkish shells hit Iraqi territory starting at about 7 a.m.
Sunday, said Col. Hussein Rashid of the Iraqi border guard forces. The
bombardment was concentrated in the Mateen mountain range in the
Amadiyah area, 20 miles from the border.
Rashid said the villages were deserted because of the border tension.
The Iraqi region of Amadiyah is roughly opposite the Turkish town of
Cukurca, in Hakkari province. Rebels are active near Cukurca, about 30
miles from the location where the soldiers died Sunday.
The U.S. lists the PKK as a terrorist organization and has condemned its
attacks in Turkey. However, Washington has called on the Turkish
government to work with the Iraqis.
``These attacks are unacceptable and must stop now,'' said Gordon
Johndroe, President Bush's national security spokesman. ``Attacks from
Iraqi territory need to be dealt with swiftly by the Iraqi government
and Kurdish regional authorities.''
Rebels periodically cross the border to stage attacks in their war for
autonomy for Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. More than 30,000
people have died in the conflict that began in 1984.
--
Associated Press Writers Suzan Fraser and Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara
contributed to this report.